Abstract
Research has shown that children often engage in gun play when they find a firearm and that this behavior is often involved in unintentional firearm injuries. Previous research has shown existing programs to be ineffective for teaching children safety skills to reduce gun play. This study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral skills training (BST) program supplemented with in situ training for teaching children safety skills to use when they find a gun (i.e., don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult). Eight 4- to 5-year-old children were trained and assessed in a naturalistic setting and in a generalized setting in a multiple baseline across subjects design. Results showed that 3 of the children performed the skills after receiving BST, whereas 5 of the children required supplemental in situ training. All children in the study learned to perform the skills when assessed in a naturalistic setting and when assessed in a generalization setting. Performance was maintained at 2- to 8-week follow-up assessments.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (91.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Eugenia Gras M., Cunill Monica, Planes Montserrat, Sullman Mark J. M., Oliveras Carme. Increasing safety-belt use in Spanish drivers: a field test of personal prompts. J Appl Behav Anal. 2003 Summer;36(2):249–251. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2003.36-249. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Farah M. M., Simon H. K., Kellermann A. L. Firearms in the home: parental perceptions. Pediatrics. 1999 Nov;104(5 Pt 1):1059–1063. doi: 10.1542/peds.104.5.1059. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hardy M. S., Armstrong F. D., Martin B. L., Strawn K. N. A firearm safety program for children: they just can't say no. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1996 Aug;17(4):216–221. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hardy Marjorie S. Teaching firearm safety to children: failure of a program. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2002 Apr;23(2):71–76. doi: 10.1097/00004703-200204000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Heck A., Collins J., Peterson L. Decreasing children's risk taking on the playground. J Appl Behav Anal. 2001 Fall;34(3):349–352. doi: 10.1901/jaba.2001.34-349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hemenway D., Solnick S. J., Azrael D. R. Firearm training and storage. JAMA. 1995 Jan 4;273(1):46–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Himle Michael B., Miltenberger Raymond G., Gatheridge Brian J., Flessner Christopher A. An evaluation of two procedures for training skills to prevent gun play in children. Pediatrics. 2004 Jan;113(1 Pt 1):70–77. doi: 10.1542/peds.113.1.70. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jackman G. A., Farah M. M., Kellermann A. L., Simon H. K. Seeing is believing: what do boys do when they find a real gun? Pediatrics. 2001 Jun;107(6):1247–1250. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.6.1247. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Miltenberger R. G., Roberts J. A., Ellingson S., Galensky T., Rapp J. T., Long E. S., Lumley V. A. Training and generalization of sexual abuse prevention skills for women with mental retardation. J Appl Behav Anal. 1999 Fall;32(3):385–388. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1999.32-385. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Senturia Y. D., Christoffel K. K., Donovan M. Children's household exposure to guns: a pediatric practice-based survey. Pediatrics. 1994 Mar;93(3):469–475. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wiley C. C., Casey R. Family experiences, attitudes, and household safety practices regarding firearms. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 1993 Feb;32(2):71–76. doi: 10.1177/000992289303200202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wintemute G. J., Teret S. P., Kraus J. F., Wright M. A., Bradfield G. When children shoot children. 88 unintended deaths in California. JAMA. 1987 Jun 12;257(22):3107–3109. doi: 10.1001/jama.257.22.3107. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]